


Survival

by Drowmonk



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-13 08:21:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4514745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drowmonk/pseuds/Drowmonk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1980s-ish AU where Asami crash lands in the Amazon jungle while on vacation with her father. Follows her as she tries to make it back to civilization and meets a friendly tribe of natives. Rated M for language and suggestive text.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Crash and burn

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure where this one came from in my brain, I just felt like writing Tarzan meets Jane, by way of Korrasami. I hope you enjoy. :)

I wake up with pain shooting up my left arm, I look around and see the wreckage of a small plane. Why was I in a plane? Why did we crash? Where am I? My arm, how bad is it? I check my left arm and see a massive cut with dried blood all around it. I'm lucky to be alive with a wound like that, I should have bled out, but it seems to be clotted now. I should wrap it soon. I try to stand to find my ankle is twisted. Fuck, what the hell happened to me? I grab a nearby branch using it as a crutch and hobble to the cockpit of the plane. I see the pilot and copilot are both dead with branches and twisted metal sticking out of them.

I fall to the ground and start to cry, what is going on? I try and remember what brought me here in a plane. I was taking a flight over the jungle, I wanted to see it from the sky, dad even made it an exclusive flight, just me and the pilots. I wish I had a stranger to help me out now, I'm alone and injured in the middle of I don't know where in a jungle. I'm still crying, I pull myself together, I need to check the plane for emergency supplies, like a radio or first aid kits.

I hobble to the side of the wreckage and enter, I find the first aid kit and sanitize my wound and wrap it. I then start checking for a radio, the one in the center console of the plane is completely smashed. I might be able to fix it if I have to, but I keep freaking out when I see the pilots. I look around the back of the plane and find a radio, short range, only about a mile of signal. It's meant of hikers, not for rescue. 

I exit the plane and start to think of how I'm going to get out of this alive, I have very little survival training. I know first aid, and I can fix just about anything electronic or mechanical, my best bet is to try and fix the plane's radio. But that will take time and I need to find shelter for the night as the sun is well past it's zenith.

I'm looking around trying to decide which way to head when I hear branches crack behind me. I turn around expecting to have to fight off a wild boar or something, only to find a brown skinned woman wearing a loincloth holding a spear standing at the edge of the clearing. She has a confused look on her face, then she sees my left arm and she looks concerned and comes towards me. I reflexively raise my walking stick to defend myself only to stumble onto my side.

She's saying something in a low tone of voice and throws her spear to the side raising her hands. She's trying to calm me down and say she means no harm, obviously. Asami you idiot, weren't you just wanting for a stranger to help you a minute ago? "Sorry, I'm scared." I say putting my stick down and trying to sit up keeping my bad leg straight. She obviously doesn't speak English, and I doubt Japanese would do any better.

She squats down next to me and reaches out her hand to my injured arm, but waits for me to give it to her. I do so and she looks it over, sees the wrappings are tight and makes a noise that sounds affirmative to me. She then goes to my bad ankle and holds my shoe and looks at me asking for permission to help. I nod, realize that's not universal, and make the open hand gesture she did after scaring me. She pulls up my pants leg as high as it will go, gets frustrated by the tightness of my pants and pulls a flint knife out of her belt and cuts it away from the swelling. I already feel a bit better with the pressure gone from the area.

She then tries to work out how to get my shoe off, I scream in pain when she tries to pull it off without untying it. She lets go, and looks at me in concern, I pull myself together and lean forward and untie the shoe and then gesture for her to continue. She gently pulls it off and then removes the sock, I groan at seeing how bad it looks, I start to feel it throb with pain. She doesn't seem worried though, and sets about gathering sticks and vines from the area and soon she's got it in a splint and is helping me up.

She says something in her language I don't understand, but she gestured toward the forest where she came from, so I have to assume she means to take me to her village. I don't have a better plan so I gesture for her to lead on, she grabs her spear from the ground and puts my arm around her shoulder and half carries me along. I try and keep my bad ankle from hitting the ground as much as I can, when I fail it sends a jolt of pain up my leg, I hope it's not broken. I try and remember the details of the path we're taking but the trees all start to look the same to me.

Giving up I instead get a better look at my savior. She has ornamental necklaces and armlets made from animal teeth. She carries herself strongly and is very muscled, her hair is short but with two forelocks wrapped in blue cloth. She has a tattoo on her right arm that wraps around her bicep, a simple triangle pattern with dots on the wide end of each of them. Aside from her loincloth and the belt-strap for her knife she's naked, understandable, I wish I was dressed for this heat better.

Before I know it it's dark and I see red light ahead, it must be her village. We're almost there when she stops and removes me from her shoulder, she places my hand on a nearby tree and says something. From her arm movements I assume I'm suppose to wait here for her to come back. She must have to let her village know I'm coming and what's going on. She then heads into the village and I hear lots of voices that seem to be cheering her return. At least they sound friendly.

They quiet down and I stand nervously leaning on the tree for some time before the woman returns with a large man behind her. He has a grim face and seems suspicious of me, the woman is looking nervous and says something to him. He turns to her and smiles, then gestures to the village and walks back without saying another word. My savior looks relieved and holds out her hand to me and I take it, hobbling into the village with her.

She takes me to a hut at the edge of the village and gestures for me to lay down on a animal skin next to one of the walls. I gladly do so, feeling exhausted from the ordeals of the day. With a moment's peace I close my eyes only to see the faces of the pilots in my mind. I let out a small yelp, and start to cry again. The woman is suddenly beside me looking at my ankle and my arm then at my face confused as to why I'm crying. How do I explain to her that I'm morning the pilots and freaking out over how fucked up my situation is right now?

I try a few gestures but she just continues to be confused and I give up and just lay back and continue to cry like a child. I feel her hand on my shoulder rubbing back and forth and singing a song of some kind, probably a lullaby to comfort children. Whatever it is, I soon calm down and the next thing I know I'm waking to daylight coming in through a crack in the ceiling.

I look around hoping to see my savior, but she's not in the hut. I sit up slowly and look at my ankle, the swelling seems to have gone down at least, still no idea if it's broken. I feel my stomach growl and I try and stand up to hobble to the entrance, I see stars and I fall back onto the animal skin bed. Okay, don't stand up that fast, you lost a lot of blood. I lay there for a minute trying to not pass out, when I hear footsteps toward the entrance.

I turn and see my savior holding a wooden tray of some kind with what looks to be cooked fish in it. I slowly sit up and smile a greeting at her, she returns it and hands me the tray saying something. Probably "Eat up" or something like it, I don't need to be asked twice and I devour the food. I don't think fish has ever tasted this good before, I'm done before I realize and the woman is smiling at me and says something. Probably "See? Told you it was good." or something.

I gesture toward the tray then her saying "Thank you." then gesturing to my leg and saying "Thank you." again. She smiles and says something that I hope is "You're welcome." and not "I don't know what you're saying."

I start thinking about how I'm going to get back to a more civilized part of the country. It's not that I'm ungrateful to my new friend, but I want to go home, my dad is probably sending out a search party as I sit here. The woman waves her hand in front of my face and looks a little annoyed, I realize she must have been trying to talk to me and I spaced out. She smiles when I look at her again and puts her hand on her chest and says one word: "Kor-ah" it sounds like to me. Is that her name?

I place my hand on my chest and almost say my first name, but then think my last name will be easier for her to say, I then say "Sato" she smiles and places her hand on me and repeats it. Then brings my hand to her shoulder and gestures her other hand to me. I say "Korah" and she smiles. So she's Korah, and she'll call me Sato. 

I feel sweaty and gross, I look down and see that I'm soaked with sweat from the heat. And it's only going to get worse as the day goes on. What the hell? Korah is practically naked, it shouldn't be a issue to take my damn shirt off. I unbutton my shirt and slip it off my shoulders feeling better already, I look up and Korah is staring at my torso, I might be the only asian woman she's ever seen. Never the less I blush at her staring at me and move my arms to cover myself since I'm only wearing a black bra and pants.

She looks up into my face and looks confused at my covering myself. Of course she would, she's lived her life being mostly naked why would she understand this is awkward for me? She shrugs and says something before heading out of the hut. Alone, I look down and realize I should remove my other shoe at this point. I remove my shoe and sock to find my foot is wrinkly from sweat and the air feels great on my skin.

I'm waving my foot in the air when Korah returns holding something in her hands, she places it next to me, says something while gesturing to me then it then back to me and then turns around and stands in the entryway facing away from me. I look at the item and blush when I see it's a loincloth, much like she's wearing. But I don't want to seem rude by refusing to put it on, so I take my pants off (after ripping a larger tear into them from Korah's earlier cut) and try and put the alien garment on. I manage to tie it on, only to have it fall to the ground, sighing in frustration I say Korah's name and hold the loincloth to my hips and try and look helpless.

She turns around and sees me holding it up by my hands and comes forward and expertly ties it tightly to my hips. I feel embarrassed at standing in front of a stranger in my bra and panties, but I need to suck it up, she's topless, she probably thinks you're overdressed Asami. She steps back and seems to hum in approval, I look down and it does seem more modest than a loose flap of animal skin has any right to be. I thank her and smile so she knows what I mean, thank god facial expressions are nearly universal or we wouldn't be able to talk at all.

She smiles and steps outside for a moment and returns with a makeshift crutch for me to use with my bad ankle. I smile taking it from her and saying thank you again, she gets a look on her face, like comprehension. She quickly takes one of her armbands off and hands it to me, not wanting to be ungrateful (again) I take it from her and put it on saying thank you. She smiles with a big grin and jumps up and down, she's excitedly exclaiming something, but I'm distracted by her anatomy as it jiggles around. Damn it, focus.

She calms down and takes my right hand and leads me out into the village, where I see the others of her tribe for the first time clearly. They're all dressed like her, with bones and teeth for jewelry and with wraps in their hair. They smile at me and all seem to say similar things to what they told Korah last night. It must be a greeting ritual of some kind, I wave back and say thank you. Korah beams at me and says something to the others and they laugh in a good natured way. Korah figured out what "thank you" means, that's why she handed me her armband, to test her theory.

As great as it is to be welcomed by these natives I need to get back to the wreck, and start working on fixing the radio. I wave at Korah to get her attention and point to where we came from and start hobbling that way. She looks at me confused and gently takes my shoulders and guides me to the fire pit, which is just embers now. Sighing, I sit down and try to keep from knocking my ankle around. "Korah, I need to go back to the plane." I say pointing again in the direction we came.

She is obviously thinking, she says my name and points to my ankle and puts sympathy on her face. She obviously feels I should get healed before I go out into the jungle, normally I'd agree with her, but I know that the sooner I can get the radio working the more likely I am to be rescued.

"Korah, I need to get to my people." I say gesturing to the wreckage area again, she looks frustrated. I need a new tactic. "Korah. Your people." I say pointing at the villagers who are watching us in fascination, then I point in the direction of the wreckage. "My People." I repeat a few times and Korah seems to understand, she points to the villagers and says "Pee pol?" I wish we had established yes and no. Instead I nod and say people.

She points in the direction of the wreckage and says "Sahtoh, pee pol?"

I nod and say. "Yes, Sato people." She seems to understand, and says something to her village and she looks sad.

She turns back to me sympathy on her face and says "Sahtoh pee pol" followed by a word I take to mean dead by the look in her eyes. Which I just now realize are blue and how weird that is, a mystery for a different time Sato.

Say "Thank you." Then I gesture toward the wreckage again say, "Sato people." Point at my eyes and say, "Are looking." Place my hand on my chest. "For me." I finish.

Korah suddenly smiles in comprehension, she points toward the wreckage excitedly. "Sahtoh pee pol," followed by more words, then she points at me and says something.

"Yes, Sato people are looking for me." I repeat my gestures and smile while I do it.

Korah turns to her people and says something excitedly, grabs her spear and then helps me up and we head in the direction of the wreckage finally. I regret taking my shoe off as we make our way through the jungle, every stick and root feels awful. I have to take a break about half way there and rub my foot and armpit. The crutch is helpful but not at all padded so it digs in after awhile. Korah notes the redness on the bottom of my foot and says something like a question and points toward her village. I shake my head and point in the direction we've been heading. She gives me a hand up, and keeps a close eye on me as we continue.

We finally make it to the wreckage at noon, and I'm covered in sweat and bug bites. But that's the least of my problems, the plane is on fire, the damaged console must have ignited the fuel. I fall to the ground and start crying, I feel all my hope drain away. No radio, I'm in the middle of the jungle with no way to contact any search parties. Korah sits down next to me and starts rubbing my back and singing that song from last night again. I continue to cry and lean into her shoulder and she just continues comforting me. I feel so grateful to have her with me, and also so helpless. It's not that I don't have skills, I have a engineering degree, but almost none of that is relevant in the middle of a fucking jungle.

Korah suddenly stops singing, stands up and steps in front of me. I look up through my tears and see two tribal men standing near the burning plane. One of them is holding a torch in his hand, did they set the plane on fire? Why? Korah is saying something to them and holding her spear protectively, she sounds hard, like she doesn't trust them, but isn't actively hostile either.

They look at her then start laughing, and it's not at all pleasant sounding. One of them points at her then grabs his groin and shakes it at us, I don't need to speak the language to know what he's saying. I stand up and hold my crutch like a club, I don't like the idea of fighting with a bad ankle, but I doubt these assholes know what Aikido is, much less how to fight it. Korah is saying something in a tone that makes it clear that she's warning them to back off before things get ugly.

They just shrug and turn around obviously deciding not to bother, rather than genuinely thinking that Korah is a threat. After Korah is sure they're gone she turns to me and says something like a question. "Thank you, I'm better now." I say she smiles slightly at knowing the first part of what I said. She points around the crash site and says "Sahtoh pee pol?"

I shake my head. "Sato people, can't hear me now." I cover my ears and frown. "Sato people can't see me now." I cover my eyes. I open them again and Korah looks confused and sad, like she's hoping she didn't understand me. She points to the fire then to her eyes, then says something about Sato people in a question. The plane will burn out before anyone can find it, the jungle is too large to expect a rescue now. The best thing I can do is heal up in Korah's village and try and find my way back on my own.

I shake my head and gesture toward Korah's village and say "Korah people, I need to rest and heal." I point to myself and my ankle when I say the second part. She looks sad and leads the way back again, I'm determined not to give up but I feel depression creeping up at the edges of my mind. I won't be able to do anything for a few days at least, I distract myself by looking closer at Korah, if I'm going to live with her people I need to know all I can about them. She has other tattoos on her back, triangles and circles, they form some kind of pattern, like a stylized fish or eel. 

She has very strong muscles in her arms and legs, in other circumstances I would find her very alluring, but my depression seems to be keeping that at bay. I also shouldn't try anything like that while I'm dependent on her, I could easily insult or offend her or her tribe, and I need all the help I can get right now. I can't afford to antagonize such a friendly people, especially if the men at the plane are any indication of what the other tribes in the area are like.

We make it back to the village just before dark, and Korah's people greet us warmly in their loud way. I smile at them and thank them for helping me, then I look down sadly, the reality of my situation hits me hard and I sit down and stare at the fire that the village has started for the night. Korah sits next to me and wipes a tear from my face I didn't know i had shed, I look at her and she smiles at me. She points at her tribe around the fire. "Korah pee pol." Then she points at me, "Sahtoh, Korah pee pol, Sahtoh pee pol." pointing back at her tribe.

I start crying again and smile at how sweet and generous she and her tribe are being. I mumble "Thank you." before hugging her and crying into her shoulder, the rest of the tribe comes by and takes turns running their hands on my back, or over my shoulders. Finally a old woman comes and stands before me, she has a almost noble bearing about her, I straighten up and look her in the eyes (also blue what the fuck?) and hope that's not offensive. She looks into my eyes and seems to be searching my soul, then she smiles and pats my shoulder. She points at Korah and says something then turns around and heads to the large hut at the far side of the village.

"Sahtoh" Korah says followed by a few words then points at the hut I slept in last night. "Sahtoh, Korah." she's saying, I'm going to stay at her hut I guess. I smile and say thank you. She smiles and soon dinner is being served, I try and listen to the conversations to try and understand what's being said. Korah and I share from a tray that has cooked fish and some fruits on it. Once again it tastes like ambrosia.

Then I blush, I need to poop, where do I do that? I look at Korah who's giving me a funny look at my worried face. I point to my belly and then hold my groin and look strained. She laughs and helps me up and takes me to the edge of the village where a hole has been dug and I smell feces and urine coming from the pile in the center. Welcome to the Amazon Asami, no toilets here. I thank Korah and she heads back to the fire, I'm grateful for the privacy. After I'm done and I've wiped as best I can with leaves, I pull my panties back on and head back.

Korah is sitting next to the large man from last night and they seem to be laughing and hugging each other, he must be her father by the look of them together. I go and sit next to Korah and she points to the man and says what sounds like "Tahn-rock" then points to herself smiling and says a word. I smile and introduce myself, he makes his hand into a fist puts it to his chest and smiles at me. I mimic his gesture, causing him to laugh and say something to Korah.

Korah smiles at me and says something, I don't know what she said but it sounded sweet coming from her. I smile back and I feel my eyes start to droop, and I stifle a yawn with my hand. Korah cocks her head to the side and gestures to the hut that I guess we'll be sharing and I hold out my hand for her to lead me. The rest of the tribe whoops and cheers as we head off, Korah looks a little angry and says something over her shoulder loudly then is smiling when she turns back to me. I guess they must have been teasing me or her for taking an early night or something.

I lie down on the animal skin I used last night and close my eyes. I start to cry as images of the dead pilots from yesterday merge with the image of the burning plane today. I'm sniffling when I hear Korah's voice sing to me that song that I'm starting to really enjoy hearing. Then she's lying next to me and pulls me close, and I take comfort in the contact with another human, even if it's weird with us both being nearly naked. I fall asleep soon enough to the sound of Korah's voice, and the feeling of her strong arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was long, I don't know if the other chapters will be this long. I have some plans laid out for this fic going forward, but with another ongoing fic and a off and on one-shot series don't expect regular updates to this. 
> 
> Let me know what you think so far in the comments. :)


	2. Culture Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami has feelings for Korah, but fears to act on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Incoming fluffy with a garnish of smut and a dash of humor. NSFW incoming.

I wake up with Korah snoring in my ear, the sun isn't up yet so I try and relax. Korah still has her arms around me and I blush at the feelings this causes in my sleepy state. Don't try and molest the tribal girl Asami, she's not going to like that, she'll get mad and you'll have to fend for yourself. With thoughts like that on my mind Korah wakes up and smiles at me, then frowns at my apparent sadness. She sits up and points at me then runs a finger down her face from her eye and gives me a questioning look.

"Thank you for being concerned Korah." I say, and she smiles then gestures for me to continue. "I'm just scared I might be stuck here forever, away from my family, my people." I say putting my hand on my chest.

She rubs my shoulder and says something in a soothing voice, I still don't know what any of her words mean, but I could listen to her talk like that for hours. I absentmindedly take her hand in mine and close my eyes and listen to her, she keeps talking and I hum in contentment with her rubbing my shoulder and talking in that beautiful voice. I realize what I'm starting to do, what I told myself not to do when I woke up and my eyes snap open. I pull my hand away from her and I can feel my face turn red as I look away from Korah.

She takes my chin in her hand and turns it toward her gently, she looks at me in concern and I feel a familiar sensation in my belly. Fuck, Asami stop doing this! I pull out of her grasp and turn away again. "I'm sorry, Korah." I say looking down.

She grunts in frustration and grabs my shoulders and turns me to face her again. "Sahtoh." She says followed by some stern words and gestures for me to explain myself, like I'm being very rude to her. How do I explain that I want to kiss her? To hold her in my arms and forget about the shit storm that is my life right now? 

"Korah, I..." I start, then I can't think of what to say and I look down and start crying, something I've been doing too much of even if it's understandable.

"Sahtoh." Korah says kindly before taking me in her arms and rubbing my back up and down, singing that song of hers. I start crying in ernest and breathe in her scent as I sniffle, she smells like sweat and dirt and it's one of the best things I've ever smelled. I start to calm down, no, I stop crying, my heart starts beating faster as Korra continues to rub my back, intending to comfort me but it's doing something else to me too. The feeling of my skin on hers makes my mind catch fire.

I gently pull away and hold Korah's shoulders at arms length, she's looking at me confused with a bit of frustration. Oh, fuck it all to hell god damn it Asami! I can't take it anymore and I lean forward into a shocked Korah and kiss her full on the lips. I pull back and realize what I've done, Korah's face is frozen in shock, then she starts to laugh. I look down blushing and wanting to sink into the earth, Korra takes my chin in her hand and raises it up again. I look into her mysterious blue eyes and she pecks me on the cheek, and smiles at me.

I break down in relief that she isn't mad at me. I take her into a hug and hold her tightly, she laughs at my forwardness and returns my hug and starts nibbling at my neck as she rubs my back. I moan at her efforts and start kissing her shoulder and sucking at the sweaty skin, relishing the taste.

Just then a gruff voice clears it's throat. I look up and see Tahnrock standing in the entryway, I quickly pull away from Korah like she's on fire and hide my face in my hands. Oh god, oh god, oh god! This is bad, I'm going to get thrown out of the village in my underwear and a loincloth with a twisted ankle then have to try to walk past rapist tribesmen.

I hear Korah groan then say something to Tahnrock in a frustrated voice. He replies sternly then starts laughing, I risk looking up and see him smiling, a look of amusement on his face. I turn to Korah who looks exasperated and gives me a apologetic look. Are they okay with this kind of thing in Korah's tribe? I'm bewildered. Tahnrock is acting like my father did when he caught me kissing that boy on our back porch, not angry just amused and protective. He says some word I think I recognize, I think he's saying there's food ready outside. He has what they call a "shit eating grin" on his face as he leaves us alone again.

I look back at Korah and I'm upset that we got interrupted, but glad that Tahnrock was able to be the cold shower to get my head on right. She's looking at me with a apologetic look and gestures toward the fire pit area. I nod and stand, putting a little test weight on my ankle, it feels almost better now, not broken thank god. I should be able to walk normally soon, I grab the crutch as a walking stick and we make our way to breakfast.

The tribe is smiling at us in the dawn's early light and I feel like crawling into a hole, my face is burning and I can't meet anyone's eyes. Korah rubs my back and kisses my cheek whispering something in my ear and smiles at me. I feel my heart melt and grin like an idiot, I look around and notice that we're not the only women paired up together. There are even a few men giving quick pecks on the cheek before sitting down to eat. There are male and female pairs too of course, all just happily and publicly showing affection. How did I miss it before?

As we're eating some of the village children come up and start talking to me, I'm not the best with kids even when I speak their language. This is a whole other level of difficult, I glance over at Korah and she's just smiling and gestures at them and shrugs, taking a big bite out of her fruit. I narrow my eyes at her unhelpfulness and turn back to the little girl pulling at my bra and saying something. "It's a bra." I say not knowing what she's asking. She looks at me confused, she turns to one of the women around the fire and asks something. The woman I presume to be her mother just shrugs and says something. The girl turns back to me and pulls on my bra some more asking the same thing over and over.

I put my finger on her lips, then I say "Bra." pull on the garment myself and repeat it. She smiles and yells "Brah!" then says some other words and bounces off having solved the great mistery of the pale woman's clothes. I shake my head and smile, I look over at Korah and she's smiling at me, I smile back and we finish our breakfast.

I don't know what to do now, I stand and look at Korah asking with my eyes what we should do. Korah seems to understand, and she takes my hand and takes me through the village, grabbing two spears one of which she hands to me. The spear has two tips on one end, and I recognize it as a fishing spear, we're going to hunt for more food for tonight. I should earn my keep, I hope I don't fail at fishing, I hate being a burden on Korah's tribe.

Before long we're at the river, it's beautiful and I see other tribe members wading in the water with their spears. Some others are on the bank with fish hanging ready to be cleaned. Korah takes me upriver a little ways, so that we're not near the other fishermen, then takes my hand and leads me into the water, it's cool caress feels good on my sore ankle. Then Korah starts talking softly and posing with the spear, showing me how to use it. I ape her stances and start looking for fish.

The water is fairly clear for the Amazon, and I hold still, spear upraised ready to strike if a fish swims by. Minutes pass and then I see a fish off to my right, Korah is on my left looking away from me with intent, she has one too. I wait agonizing seconds for the fish to get closer to me, it's about the length of my shin, about the size of the ones that were hanging. I hear Korah make a splash and the fish I'm looking at stops moving, not waiting for it to bolt I slam the spear down into the water. I get it by the tail and I quickly grab it's mouth, raise it out of the water and stab it properly in the body. I get a cut on my thumb for my trouble but I turn around to see a beaming Korah with her own larger fish and it's all worth it.

We make our way to the cleaning area, we hang our fish up and Korah starts showing me how to clean them. I watch her closely as she goes through the motions, taking her time to show me how to do it. After the second fish she hands me her knife and gestures for me to do one. I take my time and I'm far slower than Korah is, but I manage to get it done myself with only a few corrections from Korah guiding my hands. After all the fish are cleaned from our racks we carry them back to the village on our shoulders. I feel good about not being as useless as I thought I might be out here.

We take the fish to a cooking area where some of the tribe women and the children are hanging around. I see some fish being smoked over low fires in the small structure they're standing and sitting around. That must be why the fish tastes so heavenly! They smoke it for hours to cook it, giving it a smokey flavor. After we drop off the fish with the women who thank us with a smile, I smell my hands and recoil. I look at myself and see I'm covered in dirt and fish guts, I look at Korah and make rubbing motions along my arms.

She smiles at me and we make our way back to the river and go even father from the fishermen than last time. Once we're at the right place Korah gestures to the river and without waiting removes her loincloth and dives in. She emerges five meters out in the water, probably standing up but it comes to her shoulder, she's like a fish herself. She splashes the water and yells my name. I blush and turn around, I unsnap my bra and undo the loincloth, I hesitate to remove my panties, but what the hell right? When in Rome!

Naked now I run into the water to hide myself and Korah cheers at me and swims closer to me. The water is only about chest high and our breasts are bobbing in the river, she's looking at me with a hunger in her eyes and I feel my breath catch in my throat. She reaches out to me and I find myself unable to move, just staring at her hungry blue eyes. She kisses me on the mouth and my body takes over for my brain and I slip my tongue into her mouth, she squeals in surprise and pulls back. I blush, they must not french kiss in her tribe. She narrows her eyes in desire and grins, taking me in her arms again and moans when my tongue enters her mouth this time.

I'm not sure how much bathing we do but we're lying on the river bank just past noon, naked and happily holding each other in our arms drying in the sun. Once we're dry Korah puts her loincloth back on and I go to put mine on. My heart skips a beat. My clothes, they're gone! I blush and cover my crotch and breasts and start to panic, I look around and see a village child holding up my bra, panties and loincloth in their hands. I yell at them, "Give those back you little thief!"

They laugh and run off into the jungle towards the village, leaving me naked covering myself in front of a now seemingly modestly dressed Korah. I retreat into the bushes blushing like mad and moaning to myself for not keeping an eye on my things. Korah with sympathy but also obviously trying not to laugh comes to my bush and strokes my cheek and says something in a soothing tone. I start to calm down, it's okay, these people are friendly, that kid is just having a prank on the foreign girl. I'm going to smack them if I catch them!

Korah suddenly snaps me out of my head, she's holding out something in her hand. It's her loincloth. I look at her gratefully and almost take it then stop, she'd be naked in front of her family and friends. I can't do that to her can I? I reluctantly shake my head and push it back to her. "I can't take your clothes Korah." I say regretting it as soon as a say it.

She shakes her head and thrusts it toward me again, smiling at me. I refuse again, and she grins at me and shrugs. She puts it back on, motions me to follow her, and starts to walk off. "Wait! I can't go back there like this!" I yell gesturing to my naked body.

She turns around and smirks at me, she comes back and hands me her loincloth again. Giving me a "take it this time, or don't, your choice." look. I refuse a third time, and grit my teeth as she puts it back on. She holds out her hand and I take it, using the other to cover myself down there, I'm blushing hard enough that I feel like my face is on fire. Korah sees my face and looks at me in sympathy, she stops our walk and says something to me, I look down in shame covering myself. She takes my hands and moves them to my sides, I look at her in shock, she's just staring at my face, her look says "don't let them win, walk in there proudly, shame them for doing this to you".

I take a deep breath and calm myself, it's fine, it's just a prank, you did worse at college, you streaked past the whole dorm during hazing, remember? And what about the time you lost at strip poker and had to walk home three blocks naked? At least here there won't be pictures posted in the bathrooms afterwords. I start walking with my head held high and hope that my resolve stays for the whole walk. Korah is beaming proudly beside me as we walk past the fishermen who grin at me as we pass and I have to force myself not to cover up, instead bunching my hands into fists.

At the village I spot that damn kid and run up to him ignoring the laughs of the villagers at my expense and grab him by the hair. "Got you ya little brat!" He yells something and raises the loincloth above his head, I take it and let go of him. He's looking at me and I can tell he's sorry, I feel a little bad for pulling his hair like that. Before I even get dressed I pat him on the head and say I'm sorry. He grins up at me and tries to snatch the loincloth back. I raise it above my head and gently shove him back with my other hand. Korah then shoos him off and I have a chance to put my clothes (for want of a better term) back on.

Now feeling slightly less exposed, but with my breasts still on display (my bra and panties most likely hidden somewhere in the jungle by the brat) we make our way back to the village proper. I make a beeline for the hut I share with Korah and see my shirt and pants are still there. I debate if I should bother putting either on, and decide against it, what the hell? They've seen everything, no point in hiding. I do grab my wallet from my pants and open it, staring at the picture of me, dad and mom before she died.

I sit down on the floor and I feel tears in my eyes looking at the photo. That kid almost did me a favor, I hadn't thought about how fucked up my life is when I was worried about being naked here. Now, looking at the photo I feel all my emotions come back to me, I start to cry for real again. Korah is soon behind me, rubbing my back and singing her song, I lean into her and feel safer already. Nothing bad will happen while she's here holding me, I'm safe as anything. She stops singing and grabs the wallet in excitement, she looks at the photo and asks a question.

She's never seen a photo before, I take it back and point to the little girl in the photo and say "Sato" then I point to the others and say "mother" and "father" respectively. She shakes her head in disbelief, she points to the little girl and says something then points to me and says it again. "Yes Korah, that's me as a little girl." I smile at her. The look of wonder on her face is amazing to me, I hug her close to me and we stare at the photo together for a while.

I start rubbing Korah's back up and down, she moans a little and leans into it, I smile at her, you like that huh? I keep rubbing her back and she turns to me with lidded eyes, we're leaning into a kiss when I hear a throat clear behind us. I snap my arm back and turn to see the old woman from the night before, she's smiling at us. She also has something in her hands, I stand up and turn to get a better look, it's a necklace of bones, she hands it to me. I take it saying "thank you" reverently to the obvious elder, bowing my head. 

Korah helps me put it on, and says something to me, like she's proud I am wearing this. I somehow feel less naked with it around my neck, paired with the armband Korah gave me I am starting to look like quite the tribal myself. The elder woman points to herself and says "Kuh-Tar-Ah" and then says my name and Korah's name moving her hands together and smiles.

"Thank you, Kuhtarah. I will treasure this." I say, she smiles at us, says something and heads to the fire pit for dinner. Korah takes my hand and we head to the pit, sitting next to Tahnrock and a small woman who appears to be his wife from the way he's holding her. They smile at us holding hands and I blush and look at Korah who's beaming at me, she hands me some fruit and kisses my cheek. Tahnrock's wife introduces herself as "Sen-ah" I introduce myself and smile at her and squeeze Korah's hand and mention how beautiful their daughter is and how kind and wonderful she's been to me. They don't understand the words but they can hear the tone of my voice and they smile at me, happy that their daughter is happy.

This place feels like a utopia, friendly people and a accepting culture, back home we couldn't act so openly with each other. The worst thing that's happened is a child stole my clothes, which frankly is something little boys would do anywhere. I miss my father, and I still feel the senseless loss of the pilots that crashed with me here. But this isn't a bad place to be lost forever, if you're going to be. The villagers are all talking and telling stories, I start to pick out meanings from reused phrases, like "pass the fruit" or "and then they!" I smile listening to them talk.

I catch Korah's eye and gesture that I'm going to relieve myself, she nods and comes with me. I turn around for her when she goes and she does the same for me. After we're done we head to our hut and Korah is kissing me hard as soon as we're inside. I smile against her kisses and using my Aikido training I spin us around and land on top of her on the animal skin. She's shocked to find herself under me, but she quickly regains herself, grins and pulls me down toward her.

At some point we end up naked, wrapped around each other in a state of bliss, we're holding each other in our arms and just grinning at each other with a look of "Finally, nobody interrupted us!" I kiss Korah on the nose and close my eyes wiggling closer to her and I fall asleep, not at all worried about what tomorrow will bring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *blushes looking out at all my readers* Well... this was a thing. I haven't ever written anything this close to smut before (it's not smut IMO but I can see smut sticking it's leg around the corner enticingly).
> 
> So yeah... comments/critique would be nice.


	3. Hopelessness and Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami loved her night with Korra, but has worries about their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angst. You have been warned.

I wake up with Korah snoring in my ear, I smile as I listen to her breathe. She's wrapped around me from behind and I try not to laugh when I realize she's holding one of my breasts in her hand. I feel good, safe and loved. I shouldn't have done this, this was a mistake. I'm going to leave her when I'm rescued, that will hurt her, I need to break this off or somehow make it clear this is casual and that I'm not going to stay with her.

Korah is stirring and absently squeezes my breast as she wakes up, I involuntarily moan at the stimulation. I turn my head around and see her sleepily smile at me, she kisses my cheek and says something. I try and smile but I keep thinking about how selfish I've been, using her like this, for carnal pleasure to distract myself. I end up just frowning and Korah looks concerned and asks me something, I recognize it from yesterday, she's asking what's wrong.

I roll away from her onto my back and stare at the ceiling thinking of how to reply. She's looking at me still, anxious now that I've been silent for so long, but she seems to know I'm thinking and gives me time. She's so sweet, and I'm an asshole, I shouldn't be doing this with her when I could be gone in a few weeks if I manage to find a way to get rescued. I look over at her, she's still looking at me, worry evident on her face. "Korah, I can't be with you." I say gesturing to us both as I say it, frowning the whole time. She looks confused at me. I point outside, "Sato people will come for me and I'll leave you." I say gesturing to us again.

She looks confused still, I need to come up with something. I sit up and start drawing in the dirt floor, I make a triangle and a circle. I point to the triangle and say "Korah" then point at the circle and say "Sato" then I make a bigger circle around them both, and say "us" and then gesture between us. She lights up understanding the idea. I make a square around just my little circle and say "Sato people" then I make a line dividing the triangle from my circle and square and cutting our big circle in half and say "us" then wipe her triangle out with my hand and say "gone".

I look at Korah to see if she understands, she's looking sad now too, she draws a triangle inside my little circle and says something. She wants to come with me when I go? That's an even worse idea, I can't take her from her family, her home. She can't realize how far away I live, how she'd never be able to come back. I frown and shake my head, "Korah people gone." I say pointing at the village outside "Sato people take me far away." I make a big gesture in a arc.

She doesn't understand and moves forward and just pats my leg, she says something then shrugs and kisses me on the cheek. Fuck, it's hard to break up with somebody when they don't know what that word even means. I sigh and grab my loincloth and get dressed, I don't want to be caught naked again, and Korah's tent is hardly private. Korah gets dressed too and takes my hand in hers but I pull it away and point to my drawing on the floor.

She looks at me in surprise, she looks at the drawing then back to me. "Sahtoh pee pol" she points to the sky and looks around and says something else, I get a sense she's not going to take the hint as she finishes. She looks at me with a face that says "stop trying to get rid of me, they aren't here yet, we'll deal with it then."

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I shouldn't have slept with her, I shouldn't have kissed her, I shouldn't have played with her in the water like that. I shouldn't have done any of this! I feel myself pout and I sit down on the animal skin in frustration. Korah is clearly bewildered at my change in mood from last night, she tries to comfort me by rubbing my shoulder and singing that fucking, beautiful song. I sigh and think of something else to explain what I've done to her.

I put my finger to her mouth to stop her singing, then I reach for her knife and look at her. She nods and hands it to me. I draw a triangle in the dirt again, say "Korah" she nods, then I stab the knife into the triangle and say "Korah Sato" I keep saying our names together as I stab into the dirt over and over again. Then I'm crying and I drop the knife and put my face in my hands.

I feel Korah try and hug me and I push away from her, I want her so much but it's selfish. She tries again and I pull out of her grasp and stand up, and blurry eyed I walk to the wall of the hut and then I start bawling and fall to my knees and cry even harder. "Sahtoh." I hear Korah say sounding so sad, she puts a hand on my shoulder and I break, I pull her down to me and kiss her hand. I look into her eyes as my throat swells shut and I try and say how sorry I am but no words come out.

She just pulls me in and hugs me, I cry into her shoulder and she's singing the song again and I can't bring myself to stop her this time. We sit like that for some time, I feel better, touching her, hearing her voice trying to sooth me. But I'm a selfish bitch, I shouldn't be doing this to her, it's not real. I'm just avoiding reality, I need to find a way home.

I've stopped crying and Korah takes our right hands and puts them together, then closes her left over both and says "Korah Sahtoh" then squeezes hard and says something with conviction. I look into her face and see kindness but also resolve, "we're a couple and you have to deal with it" she's saying. I sigh and resign myself to it, I kiss our hands and nod at her. She smiles and says the phrase for food and drags me out to the fire pit.

Senah is there and smiles when she sees us holding hands but frowns at my sad face, she says "Sahtoh" and makes a sad face and asks me something. She wants to know what's wrong, I point in the direction Korah found me and say "Sato people" and hang my head. Korah pokes me in the shoulder and lifts my chin to meet her gaze, saying my name in a warning and some other words but with a smile on her face. I turn to Senah "Korah" I say pointing at her (I assume) daughter and shrug taking a seat and grabbing some fish meat.

Senah laughs and says something about Korah, probably that she's stubborn and doesn't like to lose a argument. She then comes over to me and gives me a hug and pats me on the head "Korah Sahtoh" she says as she puts her hands together like Kuhtarah did last night... 

Oh fuck, did we get married? Is that what the elder was doing? Fuck, fuck, fuck! Senah and Korah are looking at me highly concerned now, Korah sits next to me and kisses my cheek and rubs my back. I'm feeling my libido react one way, my mind another and my fears in a third. Okay, Asami, calm the fuck down! Don't assume anything, I doubt you're married you crazy bitch. I focus on breathing deeply to calm myself, I feel it take effect and soon with Korah's ministrations I'm almost back to normal.

"Thank you Korah." I say and kiss her cheek. She blushes and it's adorable, I realize it's the first time I've kissed her in front of the village. But the accepting nature of this tribe and my wreck of a emotional state, made it feel totally normal. Back home I'd have been terrified to kiss a woman in public like that, I also wouldn't be practically naked either but that's beside the point. 

Korah snaps me out of my mind by handing me some food, which I gladly eat. Fuck it Asami, just live in the now, you like this woman, she likes you, and you don't have a fucking plan to be rescued. What if a helicopter flew over right now? How would you signal? You forgot to find the flare gun before those tribal assholes burned the plane. Face it, you're stuck here so fucking deal with it, and enjoy your fucking self.

Korah is looking at me in concern after we're done eating and I decide to just go for it. I pull her into a hug and kiss her deeply on the mouth, I slip my tongue past her lips and hear her moan in response. Korah rubs my back and I feel heat rise to my face, I open my eyes and see hunger in Korah's eyes.

Suddenly I feel cold water poured over me and Korah and hear the villagers laughing, Korah and I pull away from each other and I look up to see a grinning Tahnrock holding a empty bucket. Right, don't have sex in front of the village, not the time, got it Tahnrock. Korah looks at me and we share a look before joining in the laughter of the village, I feel like a weight's been lifted from me. I feel so loved and safe here, and why shouldn't I? What can you expect if you get back home? Sexism, homophobia, racism, a father who loves you but would die of shock if he ever found out you like other women, and all in all a life lived lying to everyone you meet.

Here is this wonderful place, with people who have accepted you without question, who saved your damn life, and a woman who is kind and beautiful, who seems to love you as much as you love her. I feel myself grin and I kiss Korah's laughing cheek and stand up, I turn and hug Tahnrock and say "Thank you for accepting me." He smiles and ruffles my wet hair, I must look a mess right now, but I don't care, I'm the happiest I've ever been.

Korah sighs and takes my hand and we head to the river, she grabs two fishing spears but I refuse to take mine. I gesture to her knife and then to the racks of fish waiting to be cleaned. She smiles and gives me her knife and heads down a ways, to get more fish as I sit down and start the task of cleaning the already caught fish. I manage to do it faster than yesterday, and before I know it I have a rack done. A villager comes by and takes the finished rack and says something to me with a smile. I thank them and move on to the next rack, Korah comes by soon and adds two large fish to the rack and takes another knife and starts cleaning with me.

When we're done with the rack, Korah kisses my cheek, I blush and kiss hers back, I'm covered in fish guts and smell awful and she still kisses me. I look down at my wrapped arm, I should check this, it can't be good for it to have been soaked yesterday. I unwrap the bandage and as I was afraid of it's looking like infection is just starting to take effect. Korah says something in concern and takes my arm and looks it over. She pulls me to the river and washes it out, which hurts but I know it has to be done, so I grit my teeth and bare with it. She then takes me into the village to a hut.

Inside I see Kuhtarah mixing something in a bowl, she turns when she hears us enter and Korah shows her my arm. Kuhtarah takes my arm and mumbles something, then turns back to her table and grabs some herbs, she crushes them in her hands and then rubs them into my wound. They sting, but I assume they will help with the healing, she then takes some of their primitive rope/string/cloth, and wraps my arm back up. She says something to me, then remembers I don't speak their language and says some instructions to Korah.

Korah nods and says something back to her sounding serious and grateful. I thank Kuhtarah, and we head back to the river to get clean before the flies make us too miserable. We head a ways down river again and I don't hesitate this time to get naked and go into the water. Korah joins me and holds my left arm above the water with a serious look on her face and says something. Right, keep it dry.

Korah washes herself and I do my best to clean my body, with one arm it's harder. Korah sees my problem and helps me once she's done, I thank her and kiss her cheek. We head back to the river bank and I make sure my loincloth is next to me as we dry in the sun, I don't want to repeat yesterday's walk of shame. Soon enough we're dry in the afternoon sun and we head back to the village holding hands. We go back to Korah's hut (our hut? It feels strange to think of it like that) and I grab my wallet and look at my old life.

I feel sadness creep around my mind as I look at the photo, father must be so worried about me, I wish I could tell him I'm fine. Korah sits with me and rubs my back and says some comforting words in my ear. I pull her close to me and thank her, kissing her cheek. We just sit and look at the old photo for a long while, holding each other and saying things to each other that the other one doesn't understand, but feels the meaning anyway.

Senah comes by and tells us dinner is ready and we head out to the group and eat, I see Kuhtarah and I hold my arm up and say thank you again. She smiles and says something I have come to recognize as "You're welcome." Korah and I are finished eating soon enough and we just sit holding each other, looking at the other villagers and the fire. I excuse myself and use the "toilet" and pass Korah on my way back as she heads to use it herself. I sit by the fire again taking a seat near Senah and Tahnrock, who welcome me and say something along with Korah's name to me. I don't know what they're saying but I just smile and look over where I last saw her, then turn back and say how much I'm falling for her and how grateful I am to have found something good in my tragedy.

They smile at me and Senah hugs me, I hug her back and say thank you. She nods and motions to Korah who has returned, I turn as she sits next to me and I kiss her cheek and wrap my arm around her torso. We sit there for awhile, just enjoying the tribe and each other's company. Pretty soon we're whispering in each other's ear and it's clear we need to head to the hut or risk getting the bucket again.

Once we're inside Korah takes the lead and gently but firmly pushes me down onto the animal skin bed. I smile up at her as she comes down to me and we kiss deeply. Why was I being such an idiot this morning? She knows what she's doing just as much as you do. Just enjoy this, and worry about everything else later. Pretty soon we're naked again and covered in sweat and dirt from when we rolled off the bed. I don't care though, and neither does she, we look like a mess and feel like we're in heaven. I kiss her smiling face goodnight and roll over so she can cuddle me like she did this morning. She kisses my neck and says something in my ear, she reaches around me and I take her hand in mine. Soon we're falling asleep, happy to just be together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it all turned out fluffy by the end. :) 
> 
> Internalized guilt Asami is one of my favorite things, does that make me a bad person? Well at least positivity Korra was there to get her mind out of her funk.
> 
> Let me know what you all think in the comments. :)


	4. Feasts and Frolics

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been over a week since Asami crashed in the jungle, time for her to examine the choices before her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some smutish stuff ahead, not too bad though, I'm not good at descriptive sexual text so you'll have to put up with allusion. :)

Okay Asami, self assessment time, what is your status? It's been a week and a half since you crashed in the jungle, you're only option for outside communication is a short range radio with a dead battery, no help at all. Your wounds are healed though, you have a nasty scar on your left arm, but Korah seems to be proud of you for having it, she showed you some of hers on her legs where a creature bit/clawed her.

Speaking of, she's off hunting for food in the wilderness, she left yesterday, you don't know when she'll be back. Let's hope for the best yeah? Senah has been helping keep me company, Tahnrock left with her so we're bonding over our lovers being gone. I slept terribly last night though, it was the first night without Korah since I crashed here, I miss her so much, I think I'm really falling for her, and that scares me less than I thought it would. Senah suddenly waves her hand in front of my face, I snap back to reality and blush. She's been saying something but I've been in my own little world. She points to my hands that should be crafting new spearheads and says I should stop and rest if I'm going to daydream.

That's the gist of it anyway, after a week I know what people mean better, if not exactly what they're saying, I even know a few phrases to say to people. I thank her in her language and head back to me and Korah's hut, I find myself more comfortable with calling it that by the day. Back to your status Asami, since you can't seem to focus on anything else with Korah gone. The language thing is nice, I smile remembering when Korah cheered the first time I used one of their phrases in front of her. 

I look over my skin, I've hardened up a bit, and I've tanned to a darker shade than I've ever been before. I'm still pale compared to Korah and her people, but I'm darker than most Japanese women I've seen, it makes the scar stand out as a pale line in my skin. I've grown used to walking around barefoot and naked by "civilized" standards, I don't really notice until Korah gives me a love pet or a villager kindly hugs me. They very much use touch to show affection, one of the only fights I've seen in the village was with a man and a woman, and the man kept pulling away from her until she apologized for something. It made me sorry for how I acted sometimes when I first came here, pulling away from Korah, she must have thought I was mad at her, I was only mad at myself.

Speaking of civilization, I frankly am starting to not miss it, I miss my father obviously, but everything else can go stuff it. I don't miss rushing people, casual cruelty in it's many forms, and I certainly don't miss how apathetic people were. Here everyone cares about everyone else, we look after each other, and in return they look after you. It's the most civilized culture I've ever seen, and I find myself not wanting to return to my own because of it. But ice cream would still be nice in this heat.

It's after noon now and I head out with my head clearer for having done that assessment, I'm ready to help out the village again. I rejoin Senah and pat her leg and pick up my abandoned work. She smiles at me and pats my arm and shows me the angles I need to strike to make a proper blade. Not too long after, I have a finished blade, ready for being a spearhead. I add it to the pile next to Senah, she explained that the hunters would likely need more after the hunt as they tend to break when they hit prey.

She looks over my work and nods in approval and ruffles my hair, the way I've found that parents do to their children to show they've done a something well. I blush at the subtle compliment at being thought of as family to her, she's a sweet woman, I can see where Korah learned kindness. After a few more blades it's time for dinner, we put the shavings in a bucket, I'm not sure what we'll use them for, but it's good not to waste things, with as few resources as we have. Huh, "we", that's how I think of the village now, I think of this as my home, just like my room back at father's mansion. We're in the middle of dinner when I hear a cheer off to the side, I turn to look and see Korah and the others coming back with two wild boars on spits, they put them down as the village greets them loudly, and I'm joining them whooping with the best of them.

I run up to Korah when she puts her boar down and hug her, kissing her cheek and squeezing her tight. She giggles and hugs me back whispering about how much she missed me in my ear. I take her to the fire and gather some fish and fruit and start feeding her from my hands. She laughs and accepts my babying her and takes the chance to lick my fingers whenever I feed her a piece of fish meat. Some of the village is snickering at us but I don't care, my Korah is back and that's what matters. Soon she wants to eat properly and I let her, finishing my own meal before snuggling up to her, wanting to be as close to her as I can. I'm acting like one of the teenage girls of the tribe fawning over her lover, and I don't care! I'm in love and I fully admit it to myself for the first time.

Korah laughs at how touchy I'm being and says she'll leave more often if she can expect this kind of welcome. I hug her tighter and say she better not, I don't know the native phrase so I use English but emphasize enough so she gets the idea. She smiles and kisses my forehead and says of course not, she was just teasing. She's done with dinner and I turn to Senah and excuse us from the group, and drag a giggling Korah back to our hut, where I throw her playfully to the bed and then straddle her hips and lean in to kiss her.

She moans at my eagerness and rolls us so she's on top, I've found she prefers it and given how well she treats me during sex I find no issue with her taking the lead like that. Before we know it we're a gooey mess, panting and moaning in ecstasy as we reach a mutual climax. She falls onto my chest and I love the way her warm wet flesh slides on my own, I gently slide her off of me and hold her in my arms, stroking her sides absently, she does the same for me. I feel complete with her beside me, I have no fears, no regrets, just a feeling of love and happiness.

I wake up to a frisky Korah rubbing my sides, I smile and moan slightly and push into her. She growls and whispers something naughty in my ear as she moves her hands downward toward my nether regions. I turn onto my back and start returning the favor, and soon we're climaxing and shuddering with bliss in each others arms. We're holding each other and I feel content and never want to let this woman go.

It's not just the sex, which is amazing, but I feel safer, and more loved by her than I've ever felt with anyone before. I take her hand in mine and whisper to her "Korah Sato" and look at her firmly in the eye and say it again. She grins at me and puts her other hand on top of the others and says it back, then I put my hand on top of hers and repeat it, looking into her eyes the whole time. She gets a tear in her eye as she smiles at me and kisses my cheek, I start crying too. We both know we've just confessed that we're in actual love with each other, not just the sex, but everything. It's happened so fast but it feels so right, I can't imagine ever leaving her, it'd rip my heart out, like half my body was gone.

Korah gets a excited look on her face and pulls us up off the floor and starts to head to the exit. I pull us to a stop and point at our naked bodies, she looks down then blushes, she can be so silly sometimes, I find it endearing. We quickly get dressed and head out, the pigs are being slowly roasted on the fire, I smell pork for the first time in over a week and I suddenly know I'm going to eat bacon tonight and I get excited. Korah doesn't stop though and leads us to Kuhtarah's hut, once inside she says our names together excitedly and says something else.

Kuhtarah smiles and gives me a questioning look, I squeeze Korah's hand and say our names together, whatever Korah wants I want it too, if it's making her this excited, I owe her that much. Kuhtarah nods and picks up a tool from her table and a bowl of black ash and says something to Korah, who grins excitedly and has us sit next to the fire pit inside the hut. Now I know what we're doing, we're getting a tattoo, to show our bond. I'm a bit nervous at having this done now that I know it's coming, but Korah's tattoos are beautiful and I know this means a lot to her. It means a lot to me too, now that it's happening, I realize I want this, to have something on my skin to prove I love Korah even if she's not there.

Kuhtarah heats the tool and wets the ash, turning it into a thick paste, she then starts with Korah, who is used to this kind of thing. She takes Korah's left arm and starts hammering in the dye in a pattern, Korah grits her teeth and I take her right hand in mine and speak softly into her ear, about how much I love her. She smiles and calms down and after what feels like forever Kuhtarah is done. I look over at Korah's wrist and see the pattern, still bloody and fresh, it's two rings wrapping around her wrist, like a permanent bracelet, it must represent two people together in love.

Kuhtarah has us switch places and I offer my left arm to her. Korah takes my right hand in hers and whispers encouragingly in my ear, I smile at her then flinch in pain as the tool strikes my skin, I grip Korah's hand tighter to keep from crying out or moving my arm more. I focus on staring at Korah's proud, happy eyes as Kuhtarah continues to work, rotating my wrist as needed. Soon I barely feel the pain just focused on the oceans of blue in front of me, I still don't know why this tribe has blue eyes and I no longer care, it fits them and they're beautiful.

Before I know it Kuhtarah is saying we're done, I look down and see the same tattoo on my arm that Korah has. I thank Kuhtarah and turn back to Korah, who is beaming at me, I take her left hand in my own left and say our names proudly as I can. She repeats them and then kisses my ritual wound, I kiss hers, tasting her blood and sweat, and we thank Kuhtarah again and head out for a late breakfast.

Tahnrock and Senah cheer excitedly when they see our tattoos and I get pulled into a suffocating hug by them before they start excitedly talking to us, clearly happy that we made ourselves official. I guess this is what married is here, I look and see Senah and Tahnrock have the same tattoos on themselves. I should be scared of that commitment, but I feel nothing but happiness and love. The pain feels like a badge of honor, a testament to our love. Korah is beaming at me as we talk to her parents, the other villagers start coming by and pat our shoulders saying how happy they are for us. Some of the children come by and hug our legs and I ruffle their hair in turn, feeling so happy to be accepted into the tribe officially like this.

I start crying with a smile on my face and look at Korah, who is teary eyed too. I gesture to the village "Sato people" I say, she smiles at me and pulls me into a kiss "Korahsahtoh pee pol" she says pulling away from me. The village cheers at our public display and some of the teenagers start heckling us, I giggle then gesture towards the remaining food and sit down taking some fruit for myself. Korah sits next to me and has some fish, we occasionally feed each other our food and lick the other's fingers. It feels different for me now, I feel like I'm really part of this tribe, this family. I may have lost my home and my old life, but I have this new one to replace it and I'm not letting it go.

After breakfast Korah and the others stand and have us pair up, I wonder what we're doing, usually people would be headed to the river to fish right now. Then the people still sitting down start singing and stamping their feet, Korah leads me in a dance. I don't know if we're celebrating us, the feast we're going to eat tonight or what, but I don't care, I revel in the dance and the joy of the movements. I dance without shame, as wild as any of them, just stamping my feet with the beat and looking at Korah being just as free as I am. Soon we're dancing in circles around each other, it's like a tribal tango, we keep almost touching then pull away, then circle back and pull away, getting closer to touching each time.

I laugh and keep dancing and gyrating in step with Korah, soon we're the only ones dancing and the chants get louder and we keep going, I feel my muscles burn but I don't want this moment to end. The beat gets faster and faster, and we get more wild and we press our bodies together and the beat comes to a sudden stop and I kiss Korah taking her to the ground under me. The tribe cheers at us and I pull away from the kiss to see Korah smile at me, she grabs my torso and I wrap my legs around her as she picks me up and carries me to a seat. I sit on her lap as another dance starts and now we're chanting for another group, I hold onto Korah and I focus on repeating her words as she chants them.

Soon enough that dance ends and the our village starts to split into smaller groups to talk and socialize before the feast tonight. I continue to sit on Korah's lap and she makes a half-hearted complaint about how heavy I am. I hug her shoulders and tease her, saying I thought she was strong, and grabbing one of her biceps. She grins at me and picks me up bridal style and I giggle, she kisses me and I return the kiss with a passion. She pulls back and says she is strong, but says her legs were getting sore. I laugh and kiss her again, then I feel a familiar cold bucket of water being poured over us.

I laugh and look over at Tahnrock who's grinning at us, I turn back to Korah who's looking very undignified with water running down her hair. I must look a fright too, I kiss her again and then whisper in her ear for us to go to our hut. She grins and carries me the whole way, the village is cheering at us as we leave and I blush, knowing exactly what they are saying. Once inside Korah puts me down and we start kissing, deeply with a renewed passion. We somehow end up on the bed, naked and working our way toward bliss.

Soon we're crying out in ecstasy, loudly, without fear of the village hearing us, and I'm sure they do when I hear a cheer from outside after our screams of passion end. I blush deeply looking at Korah, she's looking flushed too, but we're both happy and in love and we don't care. We just hold each other afterwords and I end up taking a nap, I wake up to a smiling Korah, who is just looking at me like I'm the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. I lean in to kiss her and tell her how beautiful she is, she returns the kiss and says I'm the beautiful one.

We get dressed soon after and head back out, to the cheers and whoops of the village. I blush and hide my face in Korah's shoulder, she rubs my back and kisses the top of my head. We go and sit with Tahnrock and Senah who are smiling at us as we approach. We take a seat and hold each other tightly as we talk to my new inlaws, they're happy for us and talk about how the feast tonight is now going to honor our new love before the rainy season starts. I wondered when that would start, I could use a break from the heat.

We continue talking about nothing and everything until nightfall (when we realize we have to relieve ourselves) and then head to the fire's edge. Before we eat the tribe starts another dance and Korah and I pair up again, dancing less wildly this time, just enjoying the celebration around us. I twirl and spin, raising my arms above me, inspired by the fire around which we're dancing. Korah whoops and mimics my movements, I blush when I see that these movements cause our loincloths to fly up exposing ourselves, if only briefly. Fuck it, it's nothing they haven't seen before, and I continue dancing in my spirals. Soon Korah and I lock our left arms and spin around each other as the chant increases in speed, until we're a blur of movement in the firelight. When the music stops we pull each other into a kiss and I hear a cheer from our tribe, I love thinking of them as that, ours.

We make our way to the fireside where the boars are starting to be served. Korah and I are given a large piece to share, we hold it between us and eat from it at the same time, leaning in and tearing off pieces with our mouths. It tastes wonderful, as well it should, it was cooking all day over a fire. I think it tastes better when I think about how Korah, my love, hunted this down for us. I think about how it's a representation of her love, and I smile as I continue to eat my fill and then some. Soon we're done eating and are leaning on each other, holding our overfull bellies, and sighing in contentment.

I reach over and rub Korah's belly, which is slightly rounded now from the pork. She hums as I run my fingers over her abs, and then run them up to just below her breasts then back down. She starts rubbing my back and I lean into her as we keep petting each other, I place my head on her shoulder and close my eyes, feeling sleepy after eating so much. The dancing also wore me out a bit and I find myself nodding off a little. Korah takes me in her arms and carries me back to our bed, where we cuddle until I fall asleep, feeling completely happy and content.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> D'aww, Asami is so happy, glad she's over her angst and is in no way avoiding thinking about her father worrying about her in the back of her mind like a cancer. Nope, no self denial leading to a spiral of self loathing and internalized guilt. Nope.


	5. Out of the past, into the future.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami loves Korah, but feels guilty for being happy with her.

I wake up snuggled into Korah, her breasts pushing into my back and I sigh in contentment. I love her so much, I look at my new tattoo, I smile knowing that she feels the same way about me. Then I think of dad, I start to feel sad, I look over at my wallet on the table. I shouldn't feel happy with him worried about me, how long until I'm declared dead? It must be tearing him up inside not knowing where I am, he lost my mom when I was a child, to lose me must be horrible. I start crying a little, thinking of how selfishly happy I've been with the tribe.

Korah hears me sniffle and turns me to face her, concern on her face. I get up and grab the wallet, I open it up and look at the picture of my old family, my old life. Korah seems to understand and sits next to me, she holds me close and rubs my back. She sings her song, I had her explain what the words mean one time, as I had guessed it's a simple lullaby to comfort children. She said she was embarrassed about using it with me, that she didn't know what else to do that first night, then kept doing it because it worked, I remember kissing her and telling her it's fine, I love her voice when she sings it. The song doesn't stop me from crying this time though, and even seems to deepen my feelings of loss. I turn to Korah and she's tearing up too, we hold each other, mourning the loss of my old life together.

I'm a horrible person, I've not really even tried to get word out somehow, I just gave up. I throw the wallet back onto the table grunting in anger at myself. Korah, looks at me in surprise and concern and rubs my back more firmly speaking softly trying to calm me down. I start crying and dig my nails into my own legs to punish myself, Korah sees what I'm doing and grabs my wrists firmly and raises them up. I see a little blood form on my legs, they're small cuts but a part of me feels proud of my self damage.

Korah is speaking less calmly now, looking into my eyes with concern, she's never seen me this low before. After mom died I started cutting myself, not deeply, just enough to feel the pain. Dad caught me doing it and had me see a therapist about it, I got better and hadn't done it since. A part of me recoils thinking about how I've regressed to that level of self loathing. I start tearing up and look at Korah and ask her to forgive me, she just takes me into her arms and hugs me. I cry into her shoulder as I return the hug, she's rubbing my back and telling me how wonderful I am, and is asking why I was doing that to myself.

How do I explain that to her? Her tribe is so welcoming and kind, I doubt anyone bottles up their emotions like I do. It's just not in their culture to hide what they're feeling, everyone here just wears their emotions on their, okay not sleaves but you get the idea. I laugh at the fact I'm making jokes to myself, it gets turned into a sob on it's way out of my throat though. I'm acting like a teen aged noir detective, cutting herself one minute, internal monologue the next.

Korah is humming to me, still rubbing my back, she's at a loss for what to do to help me. I have to ride this out. Logically I'd have only one option to get back "home", and that's to start walking or make a boat and row my way there. But that's a profoundly stupid idea to humor, not only do I not know which way to travel to get back to a civilized area, but I don't know how far or if I'd survive the trip even if I did try it. So logically my best bet for getting back is to make myself comfortable here and wait, which is what I've done.

Except, I'm kind of married to this wonderful, kind, strong and beautiful native woman now, and I'm crying about being a terrible person on the morning after our "wedding". Wow, that was fast Asami, nice job feeling bad about feeling good in record time there, A+ for effort on that one. Ugh, I need to get out of my own head or I'll keep doing this to myself. I pull back out of Korah's hug and look her in the eye, I start to talk about how I think I'm a horrible person and how I hate myself for feeling happy, learning some of her language coming in handy again.

She tears up and puts a finger to my lips and stops me from talking, she leans in and kisses me, pulling back she whispers that I'm wonderful and that it's okay for me to be happy. That it's okay to miss my family, but it's also okay to love and to be happy about my new one. How is she so wise? I hug her and thank her for telling me those things, even if I don't fully believe them yet. I think I need to really get a good look at the remains of the plane crash after it's burning. If I don't, I think I'm going to keep thinking that I could be doing more to "save" myself.

I pull back from Korah and I tell her that I need to head back to where she found me one last time. She seems dubious about the idea but says we'll head out right after we eat, and tell the others where we're going. I gather that I crashed in a area that a nearby tribe feels is their territory. I gather that they used to be on good terms but have grown distant and even hostile lately, I hope I don't make things worse for Korah's people.

I quickly eat my food and both Korah and I take a hunting spear after telling Tahnrock and Kuhtarah where we're headed. I gather that Tahnkrock is the leader of the hunters and Kuhtarah is the chief, very egalitarian of them I feel. We make good time, my days spent barefoot have hardened my feet and I find no issues this time with the undergrowth. So it's only getting close to noon when we're near the crash site.

Korah is ahead of me when she suddenly flies into the air, wrapped in some kind of net trap. Shit! I am about to ask if she's okay when I see two men from the other tribe coming towards me snickering at having caught Korah in their trap. They must have set it up and were coming to check on it when we stumbled on it. I hear Korah tell me to run as she is cutting away as best she can with her knife. Fuck that, these guys burned my best hope of contacting my father. If they want a fight I'll give them one.

They're standing there with their own spears laughing at the silly woman in the net and the sillier one holding a spear with pale skin. I tell them to go away in Korah's language as best I can, as loudly as I can and step forward with my spear ready. They look at each other and start laughing again, one of them puts down his weapon and gestures for me to do the same. I humor him if only because that gives me an advantage and means I won't have to kill him when he attacks me, which I feel is a given.

I'm proved right when he's a pace from me and he lunges at me trying to grapple me, I trained for this kind of attack in Aikido class. I grab his arm and shoulder and using his own momentum throw him to the ground at the base of a tree, I hear him groan in pain, and turn back to the standing one. He's angry now and charges me with his spear, like I'm a wild boar he can skewer. I hear Korah cry out my name in distress thinking I'm going to die. Not today my love, I sidestep his clumsy attack and grab his spear, spinning on my feet I use his movement to throw him into his rising friend. They both go down in a heap after impacting a tree, I hear the sound of bones snapping and wince. I must have cracked at least one of their ribs. I grab my discarded spear and put the point on the neck of the closest hostile tribesman.

He raises his hands in surrender and I back off a step, I repeat that they should leave, and stop them from grabbing their spears on their way off. I look up to see a dumbstruck Korah sitting in the net with her mouth open, paused in the act of sawing at the net. I blush and mime that I know how to fight, and that she never asked if I did. She shakes herself back to action and finishes cutting herself free with a sudden drop and thud, I help her up and ask if she's okay. She laughs and says she was going to ask the same thing, I hug her and she hugs me.

She says we should head back, it's not safe to stay in this area, if the ones I chased off find more they could come back with murder in mind. I shudder at the thought, what caused this other tribe so close to Korah's people to turn hateful like this? I make a note to ask her later once we're back in our village, yes, our village. There is definitely no going back to my old life now, with the plane in hostile territory and burned I have no way of making a radio from the parts to get help.

We make it back to the village just fine, and well before sunset, the village cheers at our safe return. Korah wastes no time in telling Tahnrock and Kuhtarah about what happened, she gushes when she tells of how I fought two of them off without getting a scratch or killing them, which would have made for a provocation to war. I shudder thinking about this peaceful people being thrown into a war because of me, they still might. I make a note to try and build some bows for them when I get the chance, they don't seem to have them, it would greatly increase their chances if it came to fighting other humans.

Tahnrock says something to Kuhtarah to which she nods, she takes me aside to her hut, she grabs her tattooing tools and has me sit by the fire. She says that because of what I did today, Tahnrock feels I should be offered to be marked as a warrior. I'm thinking about what that would mean as Korah comes in and sits next to me looking proud of me. I try and explain that I don't think of myself as a warrior, I can defend myself but I don't like fighting. Kuhtarah and Korah seem to understand, Kuhtarah offers me a chance to think of a design for myself, something to show who I am, as Korah's back tattoo does for her.

I turn in confusion to Korah, I ask how she chose that design. She smiles and says she'll tell me later. I turn back to Kuhtarah and say I'd be honored to design my own tattoo for myself, that I'd like some ash and a animal skin to draw it on. She nods and gives me the bowl of ash and a dried animal skin. I thank her and take the supplies back to our hut and start thinking about what the design should be. I turn to Korah and ask her what her design means.

She says there's an old story, about a great spirit of peace that guards this land, that vowed to keep order while the people (Korah's tribe) agreed to live in peace and to not make war with their neighbors. She says she chose to dedicate her life to embodying that ideal, to protect her people and live in peace with those she meets. She says the tattoo is designed to look like a river creature, to honor the peaceful waters that give her people their main source of life. I run my hand along her back, looking at the pattern, and seeing it glow in my mind. It truly fits her and who she is, I thank her for telling me about the story.

She asks what I'm going to make for myself, I don't know myself, and I say as much, that I have to take it seriously and wait for the right symbol to come to my mind. She pats my shoulder, saying she agrees, this is a important choice, one that defines a member of the tribe for the rest of their life. She says some never get one of these tattoos, stating that they don't know themselves well enough to commit something like this to their skin, and she says that it's fine if I can't find the right thing.

I thank her and ask her to give me some time to think of an answer alone. She nods and heads outside, I put the bowl and skin on the table and sit on the ground, sketching symbols into the dirt. I need something that says something about my mind and how I think, I also need it to show my past, and I need it to show my commitment to the future. I instantly start drawing the half-gear of Future Industries, my father's company, it would work somewhat, but it feels like it only shows my past and not my future.

I've always been interested in bio-mimicry, the art and science of mimicking nature with technology. I sketch a gear and add wings to it, I don't quite like the aesthetic of it, I scrap it. I make another gear and surround it with waves representing water, I erase the waves from all but a quarter of the design, I add a small flame to the opposite corner, then below that I make a spiral representing the air feeding the fire above it, opposite that I make a trapezoid shape representing the earth and stability. I look at the design, I like it a lot, the classic elements form a kind of harmony, each bringing balance to the other. It fits the primitive life I'm going to live, but also acknowledges my past with the gear, a thing that is alien to Korah's people.

I move to the table (it's designed to be sat at from ground level) and take the bowl of ash and a flint shaving and start copying the design onto the skin in more detail. I try and keep the lines broad, but I manage to make a very good looking design none the less. I'm putting some finishing touches on it when Korah comes in saying that dinner is almost ready. She looks at what I've drawn and asks me what it all means, not understanding most of it.

I explain that the fire represents energy, the power to make new things and get rid of old ones. The spiral is air, without whom everything else dies, and fire wouldn't survive without. The waves represent life, like water it's ever changing, never stopping. The trapezoid represents earth, unmoving and stable, it's a place to plant roots and build a better future. She asks what the thing in the center is, I smile and say that it's a symbol of my people, it represents the combination of the four around it, it means progress and power, life and stability, it makes things move and helps the world around it.

Korah smiles and says that this is a wonderful thing to aspire to, a great thing to represent a life. She says I should sleep on it none the less and we can take it to Kuhtarah tomorrow if it still feels right. I nod and we head to dinner, dried and cured pork, it's tough but flavorful and I don't need much to feel full off of it. Korah explains that they're curing some fish too, drying it before the rains come and make the river dangerous. They need to store as much food as they can before the rains come, during which time hunting and gathering become harder.

After dinner we make our nightly deposit and head back to our hut and sleep. The next morning I wake to Korah, nibbling at my neck lightly kissing it up and down. I giggle and turn towards her, I kiss her on the cheek and start running my hand up her side. She giggles at the tickling touch, but she's looking at me with desire in her eyes. I pull her into me and kiss her deeply, she moans in pleasure and moves her hands to my hips, removing my loincloth. I giggle into her mouth at her eagerness, I slip my hand down the front of her loincloth and start pleasuring her. Before long Korah removes her cloth to give me easier access and starts pleasuring me with her own hands. We quickly build to a climax and moan loudly into each other's shoulders.

We sit in the pre morning light for awhile, gently holding each other in our arms. Then we get dressed and head to breakfast of fruits, no meat today, much to Korah's annoyance, it's being stored for later. After breakfast I head back to the hut and look over the design, I make a couple of touch ups, but it feels right. Korah grins at me and we head to Kuhtarah's hut. Once there I give her the bowl and the skin back. She asks me to explain what the design means, and why it should represent me. I repeat my explanation of the symbols that I told Korah last night, and add that it represents my past, present and my hope for the future.

She seems pleased with my choice, having had it explained to her. She has me lie on my belly on her animal skin bed, Korah sits next to me and takes my hand in hers. Soon I feel the tool hammering into my back, the pain doesn't feel as bad as my first tattoo. I know part of that is familiarity and another is the fewer nerves on my back telling my brain about the pain. After a long time Kuhtarah has me change positions for the next part, I sit up and bend over with my back to her. She continues working on my back from that position.

Some more time passes and I look out to see the sun is just past noon, we've been here a long time. Kuhtarah must want to do it right, and it's quite large from the dull throb I'm feeling on my back. It's a few more hours before Kuhtarah is rubbing medicine leaves onto my back and says we're done. She tells me she replicated what I drew, that it's beautiful and represents me as a member of my home family and my new tribe. I give her a hug and thank her for giving me this gift, a thing to aspire to and to represent. She smiles and sends us on our way, telling me that I will make her proud by living up to the ideals on my skin.

That night at dinner many of the tribe ask what my design means, with Korah's help I explain it to them in turn. Making it into a fireside story, of how fire is energy fed by air, how air is life and in everything that lives in this world, how water is life and is constantly shifting, how earth is stable and helps to keep the others from running wild. And lastly how the gear represents all of these things in balance, how it moves like water, creates power like fire, is solid like the earth, and can be everywhere it's needed like the air itself. They don't understand how a gear works having never seen one, but the design looks like a amalgamation of all the others around it, so they get the metaphor if not the full meaning.

Soon Korah and I are snuggling into bed, Korah is in front of me tonight, not wanting to put pressure on my sore back. I hold her tightly and feel better about my situation, I'm not ignoring my past, I'm moving forward into my new life. I kiss Korah goodnight and fall asleep thinking about how I can help Korah's people with my mind, and what I can build for them, in return for the life they've given me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that got very sweet by the end, it took me some time to come up with a design to fit with what Asami would make in this situation. I decided on the four elements around the gear because I felt it fit where she was (primitive symbolism) and who she is (the gear, representing innovation and technology). In the Legend of Korra she's from a mixed heritage but feels a strong connection to her fire nation ancestry (coded japanese). I haven't made it explicit as of yet in this fic but Asami is a Japanese American whose father runs a multi-national tech company. So she can understand being part of multiple worlds and how that can actually make someone stronger, but the world doesn't always see it that way and seeks to divide us.
> 
> Anyway I hope you all liked this. :)


	6. Belonging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami needs special materials for her project to help Korah's tribe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of short, but I hope to make up for it next chapter.

Okay, Asami, your first bow sucked, it broke when you pulled the string to fire the test shot. I needed something to balance out the brittleness of the dried wood to make it tougher, so that's why I'm arguing with Kuhtarah over the right to use the sinew that was taken from the boars into your bow design. She's very emphatic that it would be better used holding more spearheads on, not being used on some experimental application. I try and explain that the bow would make it so that we'd have a type of spear that could be used from much farther away. She says they used to use such things, that they made throwing spears that could be launched much farther, but not far enough to make it worth it.

What she's describing sounds like a atlatl, from the motions of her arms when she says it, a kind of javelin launcher. I shake my head and say this thing I'm making would be much better than that, that it would be well worth the resources once I've gotten it to work. She's not convinced yet, and I thought dad's shareholders were stubborn, I try a new vector, I mention that the small-spears (arrows) would need far less flint to be viable, and that since the heads of their spears often break on impact the sinew could be used for more bows instead of spears if my plan works, saving more resources than it expends.

Korah is standing to the side looking back and forth as I argue with her chief, a look of amusement and awe on her face. Amused that Kuhtarah is tolerating me, and awe that I'm being just as stubborn. Kuhtarah still won't budge, I decide to fall back a bit, I explain that if this doesn't work they can simply re-wet the sinew and make more spears. She sighs and grumbles something about how Korah has rubbed off on me or something, I didn't quite hear or fully understand her words, the sentiment is not lost though. She relents and says I have one chance to make the "bow" work, but if it doesn't she expects all the sinew back.

I bow in respect and thank her, touching her shoulder, she grunts and gives me the bowl with the sinew ready for use floating in water. I thank her again and head back to my worktable in our hut. Korah follows me and whispers that she's never seen someone argue for so long with Kuhtarah, much less win afterwords. I smile and say that my people have been arguing for things for a very long time, that we spend years learning how to do it, longer sometimes, we've gotten good at it. She laughs and says it's nice to see this bold side of me, she's glad I'm not as timid as I used to be.

I stop walking at the entrance to our hut. Timid? She thought I was timid? I think back on our first interactions, I guess I can see how she came to that idea, but learning a new language and culture wasn't easy. I tried to sit back and learn by observation when possible, I guess she saw that as being timid. I tell her that I was awkward when I first arrived because I felt like a guest, but as a member of the tribe I feel I have certain rights. She pats my shoulder and says she understands, she was just teasing me.

I roll my eyes and kiss her cheek, saying that I like her teasing to be done without talking. She blushes and I take the moment to walk inside and set to work. Korah groans that I'm going to be here for hours working on my "bow", I point out that she doesn't have to stay, she can go fish, or clean fish, or cook, or anything really. She sighs and asks if it's really going to be that long, I nod and say yes it could be that long. She pats my shoulder and kisses my cheek before heading out to help with drying the fish for storage.

I set to work on the new bow, I made another body for the bow already from a dried piece of wood, from a stronger type of tree this time. I start gluing the sinew on, if this works it will keep the bow from splintering when pulled, the downside is that it won't hold together in the rain. But if I can prove it as a concept to the tribe, then I might be able to experiment with more types of wood, to find the right kind that will hold up without the sinew. Soon enough I'm finished and just have to wait for it to dry on the wood, then string it and test fire it.

I look over my arrows I've made, I put some of the sharper flint shavings on the tips and used dried fish fins for the flights, I am rather proud of that improvisation. The next generation of arrows will have to have angled flights, to give them proper ballistic spin, but I didn't want to overdo it on the first go around, iteration is better than wild invention. They should also have custom built arrow heads, I'm just using the shavings as a cheap placeholder that nobody minds losing. I need to wait at least until morning sadly for the bow to dry in this humidity, I head out to check on the preparations for the coming season.

Outside I see the village kids playing one of their games, some kind of tribal form of tag or something. I feel a little sad that I never got to play many games when I was a child, always too busy trying to live up to the ideal intelligent Asian stereotype. My mom taught me to play chess... I feel a sudden hollow longing in my chest, I have to sit down, I do so next to the central fire pit. What would mom have thought of her daughter living with a bunch of South American natives? Would she accept me as a lesbian? I hope she would have, I didn't tell dad, he still wanted- _wants_ me to marry some nice cultured rich man and help make the Sato dynasty last forever.

But I haven't felt romantic attraction to any men since highschool, even then it was just, like cultural conditioning. I remember my first kiss with another woman, I blush at the thought, she was a mixed race Chinese woman, studying under a scholarship of some kind. Kuvira was her name, she wasn't a lesbian though, we were at a party because we were in the same classes and got invited because we were pretty. She roped me into playing a dare game with some guys she wanted to suck face with, I was drunk enough to say yes, even though I had sworn off dating by that point. Soon enough the game devolved to a bunch of drunk horny guys getting the girls to make out, I was so mortified that I enjoyed kissing Kuvira as much as I did.

It took me months (and a few strip poker games) to realize that it wasn't the beers that made me enjoy kissing her... Okay, brain! Where the fuck did that come from? I was thinking about kids playing games and you route it back to my closeted homosexual desires? Seriously? Ugh!

I get up and head to the river bank to clean fish, maybe the manual task of gutting river animals will clear my head a little. Try as I might, I keep coming back to the existential crisis that is the choice I may have to make someday. Whether to live my life happy in this tribe of the woman I love, or to go back to my old life, make my father proud, and be depressed all the time, lying to everyone every day. And god forbid I got married, and had to... Perform my wifely duty. I shudder at the idea of sleeping with some man I could never love, having their children and lying to them about loving their daddy.

I had tried going on dates with various men dad would set me up with, it never worked, I just didn't feel anything for them. I always felt bad about it, but I never could change how I feel, and that made me feel like a freak, like I didn't belong. I did research and found out about the pride movement, I was always too scared to participate. Now here I am openly in a relationship with a woman, we even have matching tattoos. I smile looking at my wrist, the scar that represents our meeting, it stops just above the rings that signify our love.

I still wonder if this is a fantasy I'm trying to live out, or if I really love her, if I'm just escaping from myself and responsibilities, or if this is the most real thing I've even done in my life. Fuck it. The "real world" can go throw itself off a cliff! Here I can be myself, love the woman I want to be loved by, and everyone just accepts it, like it's normal, like I'm normal. I never want to live another second lying to myself, just so that I don't cause a scandal. "Asian heiress caught cheating on boyfriend, with his sister!" And other such wonderful tabloid bullshit, I've seen it happen before.

I snap back to reality when Korah comes by and sits next to me, I look over at her as she greets me with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. I smile back at her and I know this is where I belong, where I can be happy, where I can be who I really am. I lean over and give her a hug, thanking her for being wonderful, she looks at me like I've gone weird and asks where that came from. I lean my head on her shoulder, and try and explain that back home I wouldn't be aloud to love her, that it would be seen as wrong.

She pulls back a little and looks at me like I've just said that back home the sky is red all day, and people eat rocks. She asks how that could be, how can people ignore love where I'm from. I laugh at how wonderfully naive and ignorant Korah is of prejudice and hate, it's not a mocking laughter though. I feel the sadness of my own life come back to me again, at realizing how fucked up my own culture really is. I say that's just the way my people are, that they only see love as a means of making babies, anything else is wrong and dirty.

She's looking at me in incomprehension, like the idea is so alien to her that it's hard for her to understand. She suddenly has a light turn on in her head, she talks about when I first kissed her, how nervous and weird I was acting. I nod and say that how I was raised is why I was so worried about loving her, that I thought she'd see me as disgusting for wanting to be with her. It's Korah's turn to laugh at how naive I was, I join her and we hug and she kisses me, then tells me I don't have to worry anymore, that she loves me and that everything is going to be okay.

For once I fully believe her, for once I feel like I'm truly at peace with the idea of living my life with her forever, that this is love, pure and sweet. I start to cry as I smile and hug her close to me, I want her to know how happy she makes me feel, how safe and free and loved. She returns my hug and we sit there for a while on the river bank, just happy to know that we belong together, that we love each other. A fisherman comes by and takes our finished rack and Korah and I head upriver to bathe.

After bathing the sun is close to setting, we head back to the village holding hands, I lean into Korah, enjoying the freedom to be so close to her. I look around at the village in the orange glow of the setting sun, it looks so beautiful, soon the sun will be fully set and the fire will be the only light remaining, like a miniature sun keeping us warm and safe. I sit by Korah, always keeping some flesh contact with her, be it my thigh on hers or my hand resting on her leg, just always something to reinforce that she's mine and I'm hers.

After dinner and our constitutionals we head to our home. We lie in bed and just hold hands and look each other in the eye. She is so beautiful, she kisses me and I wrap my arm around her and we cuddle close as the night makes it's music around us. I think about what my mom would think, I think she'd be happy that I'm happy, that she'd want me to love and be loved, no matter who it was with. I fall asleep happy to be wrapped in the arms of my lover, knowing I will always have her to keep me warm at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know Asami calling herself a lesbian will make some people upset, because in canon she's not explicitly. I just felt like this makes her old life more tragic and sad, and... If we get there you'll see it come back around and be important, I didn't just do it for no reason.
> 
> Sidenote: Kuvira cameo! Also I don't know where party girl Asami came from, but I think it fits her in this AU. Lots of repressed emotions making her act out, that kind of thing.


End file.
